Ties of Blood
by Strandstorken
Summary: Danny finds that blood ties are hard to break free from, and soon Stella and Mac are also bound up in a tangle of lies and mortal danger.
1. Chapter 1

_2 years in progress and this story is finally ready to start being posted. :O Thank you for clicking in here, I hope you will read the chapter and let me know what you think!  
As always, Thank you to Lily Moonlight for plot discussions, editing and endless encouragement to keep writing! :D_

* * *

 **Chapter 1:**

Another Tuesday morning had started abruptly with a call from dispatch; waking Flack long before his alarm could. Once - just once, couldn't criminals muster up the decency to consider his morning sleep?

Even worse; he had only made it three bites into his cream cheese bagel before he had to deal with another call. One that was much more urgent than the first. Which is why he had abandoned his breakfast, and now found himself bumping into anyone who got in his way at the precinct. If he could just clear this thing up quickly, he might still make it to the crime scene.

By his desk, in handcuffs and guarded by a rookie officer, sat Laura Starling. A teenage girl who had a habit of appearing in his life, whenever she got into trouble. Only this was the first time trouble warranted an officer standing guard by her side.

The young girl had already spotted him as he walked in, and now wore a pleased smile on her face. Flack could easily get the case from the rookie, both he and Laura knew that, but he wasn't so sure he would. For a moment, he considered letting Laura face the consequences of her actions for once.

"Laura," he said. His chair pulled across the floor with a squeak before he sat down. "I thought you promised to be out of my hair for good."

"You know me and promises Flack." She met his eyes, but the smirk on her face didn't fool him. She shifted in her seat under his stare. She was in deep trouble this time, and she knew it. "Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't."

The first time Laura and Flack had crossed paths, had been at a small convenience store. He had been trying to decide which excuse for a sandwich should keep him alive until the end of his shift. Jess had gone outside to wait for him, after she was done mocking him with the difficulty of his decision.

He had seen Laura swipe a couple of items from the shelves, but before he had a chance to react, the store owner chased her out of the shop, screaming 'Thief!'.

A severe case of smoker's lungs stopped the owner halfway down the block, flailing his arms in the direction Laura had gone. Flack caught up with her in an alley half a block away and bailed her out of trouble the first of many times.

This time, however, her problems wouldn't be solved through a long conversation and an apology. For the first time since Flack had met her, he began to wonder if he had taken on too much, by trying to keep an eye out for her.

"I left your foster mom a message, I'm sure she'd like to know where you're at," he said. Laura turned her face away, but didn't offer anything else in the way of a response.

"How long've you been on the run this time?" he asked. "More than a few days, I'm guessing. Takes a desperate kid to do an ATM stick up."

"A few months." Her words came with a shrug, as if months on the street was nothing. Flack had never believed she was as casual about her situation as she led on. Maybe it was the times he had helped her adjust to new foster homes that caused his doubt. Or maybe it was the fact that she reminded him of someone else he knew. Someone who had taken a few stabs of her own at escaping the foster care system.

"Don't give me that look," she shot at him. "I don't need your pity, I got friends." Though there was no mention of these friends' current whereabouts.

"Did these 'friends' put you up to this?" Flack knew the answer to that one before he'd asked, and just as well. Laura averted her eyes and fixed her attention on a loose tile in the floor, giving him no answer.

"You gotta grow up," Flack said. "You'll be 18 soon."

"And?" The floor tile took a kick from the tip of Laura's boot, but remained in place, adding to her frustration. She gave it another kick.

"I can save your ass from a stint in juvie for a purse snatching, but armed robbery?" Flack paused to give Laura a chance to draw her own conclusions. She didn't. "You could be in real trouble here."

"So fix it," she said with a shrug.

"There's no fixing it." Flack pushed his chair backwards as he stood up. For a second it balanced shakily in its back legs, before it plopped back down. "If the DA goes forward with this case, there's nothing I can do."

"Are you serious?" For a moment Laura seemed to have forgotten that she didn't care about consequences, and Flack saw a glimpse of the much younger girl he had bailed out of trouble the first time.

"Dead serious" Flack said, but his voice softened. "I'll do what I can. Maybe the DA can work the system while you're still a minor, but this _is_ your last warning."

"So what were the other last warnings?" The hint of a smirk had returned to Laura's face. He had had a soft spot for her since they met, and in her case, he didn't give much credit to the system. She damn well deserved his help. "Jess is right about you, you know. You're soft."

"Don't push it," he said, careful not to smile at the thought of Jess and Laura discussing him behind his back. "Wait here while I go call in _another_ favour from the DA. You know I'm running out of those, yeah?"

"Maybe you should restock." The words came with a challenging raise of her brows and a smirk.

"Wise-ass," Flack said. "Sit tight."

With that, he headed into the hall to call the DA to call in one of his very few favours, before someone else called in Laura's arrest.

* * *

Not far from the precinct, impatience had become exasperation. Stella sat in the driver's seat, tapping her fingernails against the steering wheel. People were scuttling in and out of the busy courthouse; each attending to their own important errands. While Mac sat, blissfully ignorant of her impending wrath and ate the last few bits of his breakfast.

Parked illegally by the side of the road at the courthouse didn't strike Stella as the most suitable place to enjoy breakfast, but Mac seemed unaffected.

"Get out," she finally said, releasing a sigh that had been kept locked in her chest for several minutes. It was no longer a matter of whether she was going to be late. It was rather a question of how late she was going to be, and still, Mac didn't budge. Instead he watched her with raised brows.

"You're eager to get rid of me." Mac's mouth was still half full of toast, but that didn't stop him. Stella couldn't keep a chuckle from rising through her throat at the sight of him, but she bit back her amusement with a shake of her head.

"I'm going to be late," she said. When that didn't seem to work, she continued; "Danny is going to want an explanation."

"You'll think of something." A smirk broke out on his face as he caught a few crumbs by the side of his mouth with his thumb. For a second she considered the consequences of telling Danny the truth. She could at least threaten to do so, but the small joy from her petty revenge against Mac, didn't seem worth it.

Instead she watched him with no small bit of impatience as he crumbled up his napkin and stuffed it in the ashtray. Finally, he gathered up his files for the trial.

"See? I'm going." Mac held up his slightly messy stack of papers as proof that he really was. Only, he let them drop back on his thigh as he instead reached over to place his hand on hers. "Sorry for making you late."

"I guess it's alright, you weren't the only one to oversleep," she admitted, moving her hand so he could easily wrap his fingers round hers.

"See you later at the lab?" he asked.

"Of course." She was tempted to add that it'd be hard to avoid, seeing as it was her job, but she stopped herself.

"And tonight?" Mac added, with a look of optimism on his face.

"Pushing it, Mac Taylor." It was her turn to smirk at him as he shook his head in defeat. "Go get a killer convicted."

"Alright, alright," he said, pushing the door open, though he didn't leave before leaning in to place a kiss on her cheek.

"Have a good day," he said before he let the door close behind him. Stella watched as he marched toward the courthouse, before she could finally head out to the morning's crime scene.

* * *

Getting through morning traffic was a struggle. By the time Stella finally arrived at the crime scene, most of the activity had died down. A few curious neighbors remained in hopes of catching a glimpse of the body bag. But Sid's people did a good job obscuring the view as they brought it out of the house. Sid followed the body, shaking his head at the commotion, but still managed a smile to Stella in passing.

She made her way into the small family home, where Danny was already busy working in the entrance. Though not too busy to stand up to greet her.

"Took you long enough," he said, pushing his glasses back in place with the back of his wrist.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I had a… thing," she said, still not entirely over the idea of telling the truth out of spite.

"A thing, huh?" Danny asked, a hint of suspicion about him that Stella thought it best to ignore, for now.

"Yeah," was all she said as she set her kit down and clicked it open to grab a pair of latex gloves. "I thought Flack would be here?"

"He got called back to the precinct before he even got here," Danny said, before moving over to the door that stood busted open. "Looks like the killer forced his way in through the front door. Even the chain is busted."

"You're going to have to start from the beginning Danny," Stella said. "Mac got the call, but he had to go to court. The address is about the only thing I know about this scene."

"He had time to call you but no time to brief you?" Danny gave an exaggerated sigh and shook his head.

"Sorry Danny, busy morning," she said. Danny smirked. There was a glimpse of something in his eye, that for a second, made Stella sure he knew something. But she found it best not to ask.

"The case?" she asked instead.

"Okay so, here's what we got; two men broke into the house early this morning. They were interrupted by Tyler, one of our vic's foster kids, and the B&E becomes a home invasion." Danny seemed to make an effort to explain the case quickly, but Stella paid no attention. Instead she glanced around the crime scene as she listened to him talk.

"Is the kid okay?" Stella asked. She hadn't seen any kids on her way into the house, but the report had only been about one victim.

"Nothing but a few bruises," Danny said. "They took him to the ER, just in case."

"Good." Working the case of a murdered child wasn't how she wanted to spend her morning. "Do we have a description of the men?"

"Nothing useful. The wife said they wore masks and were 'pretty normal looking'."

"Great," Stella said. "Case closed."

Danny didn't even bother half a smile, instead he cast a glance around the crime scene. Thinking the same thing Stella was; it had to be more than a robbery. They had murdered a man, but none of the family's expensive items seemed to be missing.

"How does our vic fit in?" Stella asked, drawing Danny's attention back to her.

"Our vic, Tommy Davies, jumped one of the robbers," Danny said. Stella hadn't seen the victim yet, but judging by the body bag he had been brought out in, he wasn't a big man.

"Why would he do that if they were armed?" She asked.

"Sounds like he was trying to defend the two kids." Danny said. "So far we can't tell if the gun went off by accident, or if they shot him on purpose. He bled out before the ambulance got here."

"Damn." Was all Stella said.

"Yeah," Danny added in, but was stopped by his phone before he could add anything else. "Excuse me," he said, though after a quick glance at the screen, he stuffed the phone back in his pocket.

"Not important?" Stella asked. Ignoring her rule of not interfering in other people's personal lives (at least while at work), because of the look on Danny's face.

"Nah, it's Louie," he said. He sounded about as annoyed as he looked, and Stella didn't blame him. When the Tanglewood boys had first popped up in one of their cases, Mac had come to talk to her about it, and about Louie. There was a lot of history there, that neither of them knew even half of.

"I guess you're still not talking?" she asked, not wanting to pry, but she couldn't very well leave it either.

"Look Stell, he saved my ass, I'll give him that, but things don't just change. Louie doesn't just change," Danny said, trying his best to brush it off with a shrug. "It's for the best. Especially for Lucy."

"Fair enough," Stella said, figuring it best not to press the subject any further. "Let's get to work then, I want to be back at the lab for lunch."

"I've been working for over an hour already," Danny said with a huff, before they both went about their jobs of processing the small house. It was early in the afternoon before they were ready to head back to the lab.

* * *

"Stella!" Mac called, though his partner, who stood partly hidden behind the closing elevator doors, took no notice. Or, at least, she pretended not to. It was quite clear that she was watching him from the corner of her eye, as he approached.

Her lips quirked upwards as Mac brought his pace to a slight jog, but still, she made no move to stop the doors.

If he hadn't been a grown (And if he were to say so himself; professional) man, he would've entertained the idea of racing down the stairs. Though he feared that he wouldn't make it down the stairs on time. Instead she would be laughing as he came huffing and puffing down the stairs well after the elevator had brought her to their destination.

Thankfully, neither of the two came to happen. Stella shot her hand out and stopped the doors just as they were about to draw together. The quirk of her lips turned to a grin as Mac walked in beside her.

"That was very gracious of you," he said, she offered a shrug in response.

"Didn't think you'd be able to handle the stairs," she said. He shot her a glare, but she had already casually moved on. "How was court?"

"I hate lawyers." The horrors of his morning stood clear in his memory. Nothing pissed him off quite like the lawyer of a spoiled rich kid.

"You and me both," Stella agreed, shuddering in mock horror. "Want me to cheer you up?"

"Sure," Mac said, not trusting her for a bit, given her mood this afternoon. "What've you got?"

"Our case is a dead end, so far," Stella said. How exactly that was supposed to cheer him up, eluded him. "So, it looks like we'll be outta here just in time for you to buy me dinner."

"Oh really?" Mac asked.

"I'm hoping Sid will have something for us," Stella added with a sigh, leaning against the elevator wall.

"Doesn't he always?" Mac asked. This brought a smile back to his partner's face.

"I'm sure Sid'll love to know how much faith you have in him," Stella said. She nudged his arm just as the elevator doors slid open. "Better hurry, I was serious about dinner."

With that, she slipped out of the elevator, leaving him no chance to protest. Not that he had any serious objections to her decision. Instead, he followed her into the autopsy room.

"Hey Sid," Stella called out to the ME, who stood by the body in the middle of the room. "Got anything for us?"

"Your robbers were careful, I can tell you that," Sid said, tossing his bloody gloves in the trash.

"Don't tell me you've got nothing," Stella said. She and Mac had taken their usual place by the opposite side of the autopsy table.

"Got nothing?" Sid scoffed and grabbed a clean pair of latex gloves from the box. He put them on with a loud snap, forcing Stella to press her lips together, not to chuckle.

Sid might've missed it, but it wasn't lost on Mac. It was no wonder she was known to have no poker face. It took her a moment to regain her composure enough to talk.

"You're right Sid, sorry," she said.

"Thank you," Sid said. "Now if you had allowed me to present my findings, I would've told you that I have a bullet for you. I estimate that it was fired from a distance of at least a couple of feet."

"So it was no accident," Stella said. "The gun couldn't have gone off during a struggle."

"Despite that, there was evidence of a struggle," Sid continued, leaning over the body to point out the injuries that had led him to that conclusion. Mac's attention, however, drifted to Stella. She was paying close attention to Sid's findings, her brows drawn tightly together and her lower lip pulled between her teeth as she tried to put the puzzle together.

She'd had the same look on her face a few mornings earlier, when he had woken up to find her solving crossword puzzles in bed. _His_ crossword puzzles. Although, they hadn't been too bothered about crosswords most of that morning...

"Still with us, Mac?" Sid asked suddenly, drawing Mac back to the autopsy with a start.

"Uh, yeah," he said, grasping for any explanation for having zoned out, staring at Stella, in case Sid would ask. Thankfully, he didn't. Instead he went back to explaining the details of the autopsy, leaving Mac wondering if his guilty conscience had made him jumpy.

Stella, however, wasn't about to let him off that easily. She was watching him with one eyebrow intentionally raised. It was in that moment that it occurred to him, that she hadn't yet gotten her revenge for this morning. A look of fear must've clouded his eyes because the minute that thought had struck, Stella winked and turned her attention back to Sid.

"Subtlety never was your strong suit, Miss Bonasera," Sid said, without as much as looking up from the body.

"How's that?" she asked. The look of indifference on her face wasn't quite convincing. Sid crossed his arms and watched them with his head slightly tilted and his eyebrows raised. As if his look alone would break them into a confession.

"The winking, the glances, the touches," he listed. His smirk had grown to a grin. He had caught them unaware. Something they wouldn't be allowed to forget for a long time. "The two of you may, shockingly, be able to fool your superior, but you will have to up your game, to trick me."

"What are you trying to say, Sid?" Mac asked, hoping his tone of impatience would end the conversation, but Sid wasn't letting him have the final word.

"Just making an observation," he said with a shrug, and reached for an evidence bag on the table. "Here's your bullet."

Mac wanted desperately to say something - anything that could make Sid forget what he knew, but he came up empty. Sid had caught them, and he could only wonder who else knew about them too. The time for damage control passed as Flack came rushing into the morgue.

"Sorry I missed the scene," he said, slightly out of breath. "I had something personal to deal with."

His voice trailed off as he got close enough to see the victim's face. There was a look of recognition on his face, yet he seemed hesitant.

"You knew him?" Mac asked.

"Not really," Flack said, not quite able to tear his attention from the victim. "I know his foster kid, Laura."

"That's odd," Stella said. "His wife didn't mention another foster child, just the two boys."

"Laura's a run-away, she's gotten into some trouble." Flack's words made Stella's look harden as she realised what had happened. Mac had to resist the urge to reach out and touch her arm.

"I spoke to Mrs. Davies a half hour ago," Flack continued. "Laura's not going to be able to stay."

"Unbelievable," Sid said, but Mac didn't pay attention to the rest of Flack and Sid's conversation. Instead he watched Stella. She pressed her lips tightly together, her attention lost somewhere beyond the wall of the morgue.

"Stella?" Mac asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, harshly. That was the end of the conversation. She grabbed the evidence bag from his hand and headed for the lab, leaving Mac to finish up with Sid.

* * *

Best place to hide is in plain sight. Long as you look like you belong.

He didn't remember who'd said that to him, but he wasn't so sure they were right. He didn't blend in with the suits and pricey shoes one bit. Instead, in his worn old jacket and dirty jeans, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Guess he should've planned ahead a little.

Too late now, Louie thought, as he fixed his attention on the glass doors again. He'd already been here way too long. If they came looking for him, he'd be in trouble. Fuck - being caught outside the crimelab with him out of prison… He wouldn't be in trouble - he'd be dead.

He should've risked it and grabbed Danny when he ducked out for a snack earlier. She'd been with him, his boss, but at least it wasn't that arrogant bastard Mac Taylor.

He didn't know all that much about _her_ , except she was no more to be messed with than Taylor. But she'd for sure have let him talk to his baby brother. There was no harm in that, she'd see that. Unfortunately, Danny didn't seem too keen on talking to him.

He'd have too though, there was no other way to stop this.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

The corner of Mac's desk had become Stella's spot over her most recent years at the crimelab. No one batted an eye at finding her seated there with crossed legs dangling off the edge. That morning was no different. While Flack had opted to plop into one of the comfortable chairs in Mac's office, Stella sat on her corner of the desk with folded arms. Mac had chosen neither, and stood by the end of his desk, rummaging through the all but empty Davies' casefile.

"Laura hasn't lived with her foster parents for over two months," Flack pointed out, as Mac for the second time that day suggested Laura might be involved. "Why would she go back now? She's not like that."

"I know you care about her," Mac said. He put the file back in the box, pushing it a few inches further onto his desk. "but getting caught for an ATM robbery on the same day someone tries to rob her foster family? This is no coincidence."

"I'm not saying it isn't weird," Flack said, looking ready to leap out of his chair in defence of Laura. Of course, he didn't. "But I'm telling you Mac there's no way she's involved in murder."

"Maybe murder wasn't their plan," Mac said. "she needed money, she's proven that herself. The foster family might just have been the perfect opportunity."

"Come on," Flack said. Stella got the impression that he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes, knowing Mac wouldn't take kindly to that. "Laura's misguided, she's not cold blooded."

"How many deaths have we investigated, that were caused by misguided teenagers?" Mac asked. She didn't like it, but Stella had to admit he had a point. She'd dealt with her fair share of them.

"What happened to innocent until proven guilty?" she asked, shoving her sleeves up her arms. "Everything points to our perps being men."

"Laura has a boyfriend, doesn't she?" Mac asked.

"Mac…" Flack said with a loud sigh. He was losing his patience with Mac real fast, and Stella understood why. Once Mac set his mind to something he could be a pain.

"I'm not saying she's involved," Mac said. "But the fact remains that the timing is off and we need to talk to her."

"I'll do it," Stella said, before Flack had a chance to react to Mac's tone. There was no way Mac would let Flack do it, he wouldn't believe a word of that conversation. But maybe Stella had a chance to get her to talk. If Mac went in treating Laura like a suspect, there was no doubt she'd act like one.

* * *

Laura didn't look like a kid who was capable of murder. That thought had struck Stella the minute she stepped into the interrogation room, and it had stuck with her since. Hell, Laura barely even looked like a kid who could pull off an ATM robbery, which, Stella guessed, was why it had failed.

From what she'd been able to gather, Laura had tried to rob a young woman, but the woman had fought back and taken off. She'd found a nearby police officer, who had taken Laura into custody.

It wasn't surprising that the woman hadn't considered Laura a big threat. She was barely 5'3" and had only been wielding a pocketknife. Sitting across from Stella in interrogation, she barely looked a day over 15.

"How long have you been living on the street?" Stella asked. She rested her forearms on the table, her fingers intertwined. Normally she'd have a case folder in her hands and exact questions to ask, but Laura wasn't a suspect. Not in her book, anyway.

"I haven't," Laura said. She sat with her arms crossed in front of her chest and her legs stretched out under the table, so far that Stella had to mind where she put her feet, to avoid kicking her.

"Where were you living then?" Stella knew she was going to have to step very carefully to avoid Laura shutting her out. It seemed like Flack was the only cop she trusted, and his absence wasn't making anything easier.

"With my boyfriend," she said. Her attention shifted from the table to the mirror behind Stella. "Where's detective Flack?"

"He's on another assignment," Stella lied. Flack was watching from outside the room, he'd demanded to be allowed to do so. "Who's your boyfriend?"

"That's none of your business," Laura shot at her. Clearly being the concerned detective wasn't working, maybe she should've brought Mac with her to act 'bad cop'. The thought almost made her smile, so she pushed it from her mind and decided on a different approach, to talking to Laura.

"How about I'm honest with you?" she asked, leaning back in her seat.

"Please," Laura said, all but rolling her eyes, much like Flack had earlier. It was no wonder she trusted him.

"Your foster dad, Tommy?" Stella said, waiting for any hint of recognition from Laura, but she didn't look away from the mirror. "He was murdered yesterday."

"I know," Laura said. Her attempt at playing it cool cracked for half a second as she brought her hand to her face and sighed heavily. "Flack told me."

"We have reason to believe you're involved," Stella said.

"What?" Laura seemed genuinely shocked, Stella would be the first to argue that point to Mac. The young girl's hands had paused in mid-air, slowly sinking to rest on the table, her attention jumping around the room. "No, I wouldn't, I could never…"

"The ATM robbery says otherwise," Stella pushed. "Laura, if you know anything…"

"Well I don't!"

"Fine," Stella said through her teeth. "If that's how you want this to be, let me put it in terms you can understand."

Laura said nothing.

"Having a crap time in the foster system, is not a free pass for crime," Stella said. "If you act like an adult, expect to be treated like one. That means facing the consequences of your actions. No bleeding heart detective can protect you, if you're tried as an adult."

"I don't know anything, detective," Laura said, her voice much quieter as she considered what Stella had said.

"I don't believe that," Stella said, opting to give the concerned detective angle a last chance. "Laura, I really want to help you, but I need your help too."

"I can't help you," Laura said.

"Okay." With that Stella got up and left the room, careful not to look back. That girl was definitely in over her head, but until she grew up and accepted their help, Stella didn't see what they could do. Damn it.

Flack was waiting for her in the next room, picking at the thin windowsill as he watched Laura through the window.

"Thanks for not being too hard on her," he said, still looking at the young girl in the interrogation room. Stella cast a glance through the window, Laura hadn't moved at all. "I know she can be… tough."

"I don't blame her," Stella said. "Being a kid in fostercare is hard, but she's not a kid anymore. She needs to grow up."

"I spoke to the DA," Flack said. He was finally able to move his attention from Laura. "They will try to make a deal, and get Laura some help - get her on the right track instead of in juvie."

"That's good," Stella said, but Flack didn't exactly look like he agreed. "Or not?"

"She'll be going to a group home tonight," he explained. "If she really knows something…"

"She wont be safe there," Stella said. "How much time do we have?"

"It'll probably take them a couple hours to set it all up, not much more than that."

"We need something to move on," Stella said, partly over her shoulder as she turned to leave. There had to be something they'd missed. "I'll call you when I have something."

* * *

Stella shut the door to Mac's office behind her, annoyed that the glass doors didn't allow more than a soft clink as it fell closed. That conversation warranted a proper slamming of the door. One that rattled every test tube in the damn lab.

To be called into the office, by word of Danny, and scolded like she was some school child… Mac should know how that pissed her off. And for such a minor misstep.

Yes, technically Laura was a minor and Stella had no business interrogating her without a guardian, but it hadn't been an interrogation, not really. She was trying to help.

However, Mac didn't allow any shades of grey into his perception of right and wrong. He had given her his usual spiel about consequences and desk assignments and a firm warning to tread carefully if she wanted to stay on the case.

She had, somehow, managed to keep her anger under control. To Mac, it had been an official interrogation, while Stella had seen the conversation with Laura as just that - a chat. That made him right, at least about protocol. But how he could insist that Laura was involved in the robbery-homicide was beyond her.

Laura hadn't had a fighting chance. She didn't have a kind stranger show up and pull her out of the system like Stella had had. And while her feelings towards professor Papakota had changed drastically in Greece, it didn't change what he had done for her when she was a teenager.

Wanting to shake any thoughts of the professor out of her mind, Stella hastened her pace toward ballistics, only barely avoiding walking into an unfortunate lab tech as she passed him.

"Should I get out of the way?" Danny asked with a smirk as Stella marched into the ballistics lab.

"Depends," she said. "Do you have good news for me?"

"Not exactly," Danny said, taking a big step to the side, which Stella chose to ignore. Much to Danny's disappointment. "But it's not a complete dead end."

"I'm gonna need more than that," Stella said, taking the file Danny handed her. At first glance, the gun was another disheartening dead end. "Stolen?"

"Yeah," Danny said. "Along with seven other weapons, reported stolen from the same shop this year."

"Eight stolen guns?" Stella asked. "Seems like a lot."

"The owner claims his shop is in a bad neighborhood," Danny said. "There's a file on him. We think he's been selling weapons to local gangs and reporting them stolen, to keep the head off himself."

"Wouldn't surprise me," Stella said. "But why would a gang rob a family in Queens?"

"Guess we just figured out who Laura's afraid of," Danny said, a sense of smugness in his tone, even though his attention was briefly diverted by his phone on the table. An annoyed sigh later, he rejected the call and slipped the phone into his pocket.

For a moment, she was tempted to ask if it had been Louie again. But she didn't. Something about Louie Messer made her feel uneasy, and she didn't want to share that feeling with Danny.

"Look, I gotta get a hold of Flack," she said instead. "Run this by Mac, will you?"

"Sure," Danny said. "I saw you leaving his office, you two okay?"

"Oh, yeah," Stella said. She didn't really want to share that with Danny either. "Professional difference of opinion, that's all."

"Didn't know you were able to separate the two now." His words came with a smirk. Geez, how many people had Sid told?

"Funny." Was all Stella said as she slipped out of the room. She wasn't about to admit that Danny had a point about them not being able to separate work and spare time. Certainly not when it came to things they didn't agree about.

Lost in thought, she left to call Flack. Maybe if Laura knew she was about to be sent to a group home, she'd want to tell them something.

* * *

Mac had snuck out of his office while Stella had been talking to Danny. He'd been gone when she walked by, heading for the precinct. A plan had begun to form in her head, and she'd decided to go see Flack, rather than call him.

She hadn't expected Mac to actually be at the precinct talking to Flack. Damn it, she had really wanted Flack on board with the idea before talking to Mac about it.

The two were busy discussing Laura's situation again, though Mac didn't seem anymore prepared to accept Laura's innocence than Flack was to accept her guilt.

"How about," Stella said, announcing her presence behind them. Mac greeted her with a cautious smile, out of Flack's sight. "we make this conversation a working dinner? I have an idea."

"An idea?" Mac asked, skepticism oozing from his face. Oh boy, he was going to be hard to convince. Although, technically she wouldn't need his permission to go through with it.

"Mac, patience," Flack said with a quick look in Stella's direction. Thank god for Flack. "Let's all just agree that Stell's buying dinner. When we have food, you can be as doubtful as you'd like."

"Okay," Mac said with some hesitation, but Flack was already heading for his coat on the back of his desk chair across the room.

"This wasn't exactly the dinner I'd had in mind," Mac said, his voice low. Whether it was to avoid being heard by Flack, or disappointment, Stella couldn't quite tell.

"I know, I'm sorry," she said. She wanted to offer to make it up to him, but Flack was already on his way back with his coat. Instead, she smiled at Mac. "You got out of buying, didn't you?"

"That's what worries me," he said dryly, leading the way out of the precinct.

15 minutes later they were, by some miracle, seated in the restaurant, waiting for their food to arrive. When it came to it, Flack had been quite modest in his order. Just the same - it was Mac who needed persuasion, she was already sure Flack was in.

"So," Mac said after while. He already didn't seem too open to suggestions. "You had a plan for Laura?"

"Yeah." Stella made sure to sound more confident than she felt, it certainly wasn't the best plan, but it was a plan nonetheless. "She can stay with me."

"With you?" Mac asked. The corner of his mouth twitched as if he meant to laugh, it took him a moment to realize she wasn't kidding.

"Not at my place, but at a hotel," Stella said quickly, before he had a chance to say another word. "It'd keep her safe - maybe even earn her trust."

"You have no way of knowing she isn't dangerous," Mac said, though he was barely allowed to finish before Flack snapped.

"You have no way of knowing she is!" He said, gripping the edge of the table.

"She's involved…" Mac tried.

"She's a kid, Mac!" Flack said, his voice drawing the attention of a couple of other restaurant guests. Quieter, he continued. "A kid who makes dumb decisions, but there's no way she killed anyone."

"Guys," Stella said. "It'll just be for the night. If she does know something, that may be all it takes."

"I don't like it," Mac said, though sensing that wasn't enough, he added; "Neither will the DA."

"He doesn't have to know," Stella said. "She's not in custody. For all he cares, she just needs a place to stay and I'm offering."

* * *

By the time detective Bonasera finally seemed to be asleep, Laura had struggled not to fall asleep herself for over an hour. She had spent her time trying to figure out what to do. There was no right choice, and at that moment, it had been so tempting to stay with the cops, and keep herself safe, at the hotel room the detective had rented for the two of them, but she couldn't leave Emil in danger like that.

Determined to make things right, she pushed herself out of bed and very carefully made her way to the chair, where she'd left her clothes earlier. Detective Bonasera didn't seem a particularly light sleeper, but it still took Laura several minutes to change into her everyday clothes, before she went in search of something else.

She had seen Detective Bonasera pay in cash at the front desk earlier, and knew there were more in her purse. Laura was sure, that with a good job with the police, she'd be able to spare them, so Laura carefully picked the purse up from Stella's nightstand and rummaged through it, with luck. She shoved the bills into her pocket and dropped the purse back on the nightstand, before she took off in a hurry.


End file.
